Tokyo vs Bangkok - Essay Example

Tokyo versus Bangkok Japan has 47 prefectures and Tokyo is one of them. Tokyo, which is located east on the Honshu Island, is not only the Japan’s capital but its largest city as well having a population of about 39 million. In 2008, Tokyo was both the most populated metropolis and the hugest economy worldwide with a Gross Domestic Product of almost one and a half trillion US dollars, according to data from PricewaterhouseCoopers (Davies, par 10). In 2009, it was declared to be the most expensive city in the whole world. Bangkok is Thailand’s capital. The name Bangkok was derived from the words ‘Bang’ and ‘ Kok’ which are two primitive words meaning ‘village’ and ‘olive’ in Thai. The original name of Bangkok was therefore the “village of olive”. Its special administrative area is 606 square miles in area, much of which is regarded as Bangkok city. Bangkok hosts a number of regional corporate headquarters making the city a financial and business regional force. Its influence on fashion, culture, entertainment and global politics emphasizes its global city status (Askew, 2). As of 2008, the city had a population of close to 12 million individuals. This article seeks to compare Tokyo and Bangkok and will cover how different aspects have affected the cities in the past and dig into history within the last few centuries to state the reasons that led to both of then becoming cities they are today. The climate, topography and location of both cities Bangkok is located in the very central part of Thailand and this makes it a natural hub between the southern and northern Thailand. Bangkok’s location around the Chao Phraya delta has earned it the title of being Asia’s Rice bowl (Furstinger, 16). This is because the river creates a fertile valley in which a lot of rice is grown and mostly exported. Bangkok’s position near a bay has enabled it host Thailand’s main international port. The city lies approximately six and a half feet above sea level, and this works as a disadvantage to the city whenever the season of monsoon rains begin. The rains cause River Chao Phraya to burst its banks and massively flood the city. The city’s climate is hot and warm almost all year round and this is probably why it is so popular with tourism. It has even been labeled to be the hottest city in the world. According to Mansfield (15), Tokyo occupies a huge swath of sedimentary deposits of the Kanto Plain which is in Honshu, the most populous and largest island in Japan. The city is situated on the coast of the eastern Pacific and its main features are the flatlands to its east, undulating hills to its west and the Sumida River. Of all the Asian capitals, Tokyo is the easternmost and lies solitary on the continent’s edge and above the most unstable geographical terrain in the whole world which is frequented with numerous earthquakes. During the time when it was known as Edo, the city suffered more than five hundred major fires that were triggered by earthquakes, typhoons and floods. Disaster after disaster, the people in Tokyo have always rebuilt the city with stoic resilience. Today, the city has enforced some steps to reduce these risks. Unlike Bangkok, Tokyo’s climate has both seasons of winter and summer. The city also experiences some typhoons annually and sporadic snowfalls. How and why Bangkok became a capital city History has it that King Rama I founded Bangkok in 1782. Previously, Bangkok was a tiny fishing and agricultural village in which people mainly utilized rowing boats as the main means of transportation. According to some European missionaries, Bangkok was but a collection of villages which were known for their betel-nut palm plantations (Warren, 14). The military might then decided what state was to rule the larger Thailand area. Bangkok assumed the capital status following the fall of Krung Sri Ayuthaya in the mid 18th century. Ayutthaya was Thailand’s capital for over 400 years and was rich in traditions, agriculture, cultures and religions. Just before Ayutthaya got torn down and badly destroyed, it had been resisting the Burmese forces, which had held the Thai people hostage for more than a decade, for many months. Taksin, a patriotic nobleman, was the leader of Thais during their war against the Burmese forces and his genius in military issues was helpful in giving his army victory in every other battleground against the Burmese, albeit having an army whose numbers were far less compared to the Burmese. He eventually succeeded in driving the Burmese away though he still could not enjoy the peace as he still had to battle the Burmese and some of the ambitious neighboring countries like Laotian and Khmer and the other Thai cults. After driving out the Burmese, the damage on Ayutthaya was so bad that Taksin resolved to establish a different and new capital which went by the name ‘Krung Thonburi” since the damage on Ayutthaya seemed irreparable and was too big for his tiny army to properly protect. Taksin later on went by the name of the Great King Taksin and went ahead to rule over Krung Thonburi. Unfortunately, 14 years later into his rule, his kingdom was overthrown by a cluster of some of his noblemen who took advantage of his army being away at war with Khmer and betrayed him. King Taksin’s army was then led by Yodfa Chulaloke, who was his most beloved commander and had also never failed to win in any battle that he participated in. On hearing what was taking place back at the palace, Yodfa Chulaloke rushed back to defend his master and won the defense battle but had unfortunately arrived after the whole royal family, including King Taksin had already been assassinated. Renowned for his wisdom, Yodfa reasoned that Krung Thonburi was too tiny for a place that was to be capital in the future. This led him to move the capital to the river bank of the Chao Phraya in 1782. This is the modern day Bangkok which is also known as ‘Krungthep” to the Thais, meaning ‘City of Angels’. The full name of the city is so long that it has earned the city a place in the world records. Since its establishment as the Thai capital, Bangkok’s history has been mostly made up of the continuous revamping of the palaces, monuments and old temples since the Thai Kings have the divine responsibility of maintaining the religion of Buddhism. Foreigners began streaming into Bangkok in large numbers in the early years of the 19th century such that, by the 1860s, numerous traders had formed treaties and economic alliances with Bangkok. Kings Mongkut and Chulalongkorn are renowned for much of the modernization and development in Bangkok and Thailand as a whole. King Mongkut’s rule saw the finishing of the realization of Bangkok’s first paved street while King Chulalongkorn’s reign saw the completion of new city roads, the creation of a tramway and the development of a railway line that connected the northern part of Bangkok. In 1932, the construction of the Memorial Bridge was completed to enable Bangkok and Thonburi be connected as a way of promoting modernization and economic growth. This happened in the era of significant worldwide infrastructure development. The 1960s Vietnam War increased the level of investments into Bangkok and this was utilized in further developing its infrastructure. How Tokyo became a capital city Tokyo, formally named Edo, came into existence approximately 400 years ago with the establishment of the Togugawa Shogunate in early 1600s following his victory in the Sekigahara battle and the city rapidly developed under Togukaya’s successors. Edo was then the center for culture and politics in Japan and this made its population to widely expand and exceed a million individuals such that, by mid 1700s it was perhaps, the most populated city in the whole world (Barakan & Greer, 20). All this time, the empire’s residence was in Kyoto, the then official capital of Japan. This Edo era lasted for over two and a half Centuries to the 1868 Meiji Restoration when the Togugawa Shogunate came to an end and imperial rule took effect. The emperor shifted base to Edo which was then renamed Tokyo. The Meiji era lasted to 1912 and was followed by the early Showa era. It was During the Meiji era that Japan embraced western cultures for fear of being left behind in terms of civilization and therefore made a major contribution to the modernization of Tokyo today (Jansen & Hall, 360). Telecommunication services began in 1869 followed by the introduction of steam locomotive, paving of roads and the styling of buildings with stones and bricks in assimilation of the western culture. These developments were however, destroyed in 1923 by the Great Kanto Earthquake which damaged the city to the tune of almost one and a half times the then national budget. The city started being rebuilt again from scratch but the war in the 1940s resulted in heavy bombing of the city and the takeover by the American forces. Under the American General Headquarters and general McAuther, Tokyo began its third generation. 1947 saw the effecting of the Japanese constitution and the forming of Tokyo’s 23 special wards two years later. The Americans exited Tokyo in 1952 and the Japanese people regained their sovereignty. However, it was the 1964 Tokyo Olympics that gave the Japanese the feeling of real restoration and also, it was during the same year that the bullet train was began its services between Osaka and Tokyo. The country rapidly grew during the 1960s and 1970s but halted in 1973 due to the oil shock. The economy once again peaked in the 1980s driving stock and land prices sky high making it almost impossible for the average citizen to purchase a house (Shapira, Masser & Edgington, 99). The 1990s were regarded as a lost decade by the Japanese due to the stagnancy the economy experienced and the several bank bankruptcies. The recovery signs began showing in 2003. The Japanese government is currently trying to represent Tokyo as a true international city. Why Tokyo became the capital of Japan After the Second World War ended, the new Japanese constitution moved the country’s sovereignty to the Japanese people from the empire as the Diet of Japan represented. It was then agreed that the site of the Diet represented the country’s capital. This formed the most solid basis for recognizing Tokyo as the legal and only capital of Japan. In the history of Japan, there existed an imperial act that recognized Heian kyo as the capital. There has never been a similar declaration for Tokyo or Kyoto and this has resulted in some people in the present day stating that the transfer to Heian kyo was illegal and as such, Kyoto still retains the capital status of the nation. Others recognize both Tokyo and Kyoto as simultaneous Japanese capitals. The emperor holds no governing power over the state and all the state organs are located in Tokyo giving the impression that Tokyo is indeed the capital albeit the lack of any law that designates the city as the Japanese capital. Many Japanese laws nevertheless define the area that incorporates Tokyo as the capital area. The term that means capital has never been used to describe Kyoto. The Japanese education ministry made a publication in 1941 that referred to Tokyo as the designated capital. All these have led to Tokyo being recognized as the official Japanese capital. Conclusion Bangkok and Tokyo are about 3000 miles apart and similar yet different in many ways. They both have rivers passing through them and both lie close to bays and are both very rich as far as culture is concerned. Economically, Tokyo is superior to Thailand and had a higher cost of living too. Bangkok however, has a more metropolitan look than Tokyo since it has allowed many immigrants to live and work within the city. Tokyo has very tighter immigration laws and foreigners hold virtually no special rights in Tokyo. There is more of intercultural mixing in Bangkok. Works Cited Askew, Mark. Bangkok: Place, Practice and representation. London: Routledge, 2002. Davies, Natasha (2009). Emerging Market Economies Set to Rise Rapidly in Global GDP Rankings Says PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP. Viewed on 16th March, 2010. Available at: https://www.ukmediacentre.pwc.com/content/detail.aspx?releaseid=3421&newsareaid=2 Furstinger, Nancy. Bangkok. Edina, MN: ABDO Group, 2005. Jansen, Marius and Hall, John Whitney. The Cambridge History of Japan: The nineteenth Century. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1989. Mansfield, Stephen. Tokyo: A Cultural History. Oxford, UK: Oxford University press, 2009. Shapira, Philip, Masser, Ian and Edgington, David. Planning for cities and regions in Japan. Liverpool, UK: Liverpool University Press, 1994. Warren, William. Bangkok. London: Reaktion Books, 2002. Read More